Rev. E. Thurman Walker came to Antioch in August 1987, as the Minister of Youth and Evangelism, after graduating from the ITC Morehouse School of Religion with a Master of Divinity Degree.  Rev. Walker earnestly went to work, heading the youth ministry, inspiring old and young alike, founding and establishing the City-Wide Ministry of “San Antonio Youth Ganging Up for Jesus” which later became Youth United Against Drugs And Gangs (YUADAG).  Within a few years of his staff ministry at Antioch, he became Assistant Pastor and later Co-Pastor.  He rose to prominence among the Antioch Church Family and the San Antonio Community.  His deep yearning to advance his education soon led him to enter the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio to study Africentric Pastoring and Preaching, under the mentorship of Dr. Jeremiah Wright and Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu.   His dissertation work “Africentric Boys & Girls Development Program” became the catalyst of our current Rites-of-Passage Program.  A seamless transition from Co-Pastor to Pastor took place in March 1993 when Pastor Rector went to glory to be with the Lord.  After taking the reigns of Antioch, Pastor Walker empowered ministries throughout the church… led the church in purchasing surrounding land and buildings.  He established the Antioch Christian Academy, a Christian school to mature and develop youth.  He inspired a rapid increase in membership and a remarkable expansion of the church budget.  He founded and established Antioch Community Transformation Network (ACTN) a 501(c)(3) non profit organization in 2000 which was founded to oversee the expansion of services to meet the educational, economic, and social needs of San Antonio’s historically underserved east side community.  He established a plan for the building of the Antioch Family Life Education and Community Center, a multipurpose athletic and educational complex to benefit the entire community.  His leadership extended beyond the confines of Antioch having chaired the Bexar County/San Antonio Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration for two consecutive years, having given out more scholarship dollars in the history of the city-wide celebration.  He founded the Community of Churches for Social Action, (CCSA) an interdenominational 501(c)(3) organization of churches in the San Antonio Community designed to empower citizens who might otherwise be neglected and misused.  From city to state to national, he served in various leadership capacities.  His concerned leadership, preaching power, spiritual anointing and civic service were his traits. He lead the Community of Churches for Social Action in the acquisition to develop an institution implementing and fulfilling an overall need for capital improvement to the Eastside community.  His leadership led to acquiring $7.5 million from the County to establish a multi purpose amateur sports complex in the designated flood zone, the Wheatley Heights Amateur Sports Center. Even with his active schedule, he still had time to devote to his wife, Jo Angelia, and their two children, T.J., Kimberly and granddaughters, Raizel RayeAnne and  Sabriya Marie. It is his family which helped him keep life’s priorities in perspective.  Pastor Walker went to glory to be with the Lord October 26, 2009.